The Power Games
by The Copycat Ninja
Summary: I am Jaywing, a warrior of AshClan, and a server of the despicable ThunderClan. And twenty-eight jay feathers will be in the Picking ditch tomorrow sun-rise.
1. Introduction

**Author's Note- So yeah, this is my first crossover...Hope you enjoy it. :3 Thank you to Coqui's Song for looking over it, and to Ruining Hopes and Dreams for linking me to a website which helped me correct a lot of things. **

_I may be chosen in the Pickings next sun-rise._

This I comprehend. Everyone realises only a single cat comes out of the deadly forest which holds the Games within it alive, be he or she a kit, apprentice, queen, warrior, or elder. The deputy and leader are safe from the Pickings...They help organise the Power Games, though they understand it means certain death for all but one cat of those who were entered. Of course, only newborn kits would not know the genuine foes. Our enemies are the true Clan in charge of these Games of grief.

That Clan is ThunderClan.

ThunderClan cats are beings of might and glory; in their narrow-minded, blood-thirsty opinions at least. The group of ThunderClan felines are the last original Clan. They had lived in both the first forest which was destroyed by the Upwalkers. The woods around the lake got taken over by rogues. Those horrible creatures formed BloodClan and DarkClan. ThunderClan, ShadowClan, RiverClan and WindClan were pushed out...As soon as they got to their new home, they defeated SkyClan and sent them once again on their merry way. Afterwards, as well as taking over a huge amount of the surrounding territory, ThunderClan claimed the richest, most protected part of the land.

The other three Clans were smaller, and less well-fed than those arrogant and plump cats, and thus they divided into twelve under-sized Clans; OakClan, MapleClan, BeechClan, CedarClan, AcornClan, WillowClan, PineClan, AlderClan, AshClan, AspenClan, BirchClan and last of all ElmClan. All of those Clans were named after the most common species of tree in each of their tiny territories. All of those Clans serve ThunderClan.

I am Jaywing, a warrior of AshClan, and a server of the despicable ThunderClan.

And twenty-eight jay feathers will be in the Picking ditch tomorrow sun-rise.


	2. Journey

The sun was rising, and already promised a fairly warm greenleaf day. I stretched, ducking my head; the golden orb in the clear sky was hurting my pale green eyes. Looking around, I saw the other warriors in the den had an identical shine in their eyes. A shine of fear. Today is the Picking. One tom and she-cat from each of the minor Clans will be Picked for the Power Games. Everyone prays to StarClan that it won't be them or their kin. Oh, and some of them just pray for gruesome deaths of all the ThunderClan cats, but that's not the point.

"All cats of AshClan, gather around the High-Ash for a Clan meeting!" yowled our leader, Rainstar; the grey tabby perched on one of the upper-most branches of the ash tree in the center of our camp.

All my Clanmates and I slunk out of our dens. Kits were wailing, queens murmuring useless words in an attempt to comfort their sons and daughters. Elders muttered under their breath, whilst the apprentices walked up wide-eyed with anxiety; all of us warriors pretending in vain to be calm. However, our fear-scent mingled in the air with everyone else's.

The Pickings were dreaded days of greenleaf.

Under the shade of the bramble bushes, our medicine cat had his head lowered in silent grief. The deputy sat next to him, her eyes saddened by the prospect of probably losing both of our Picked Clanmates. Our leader and deputy were forced to help ThunderClan in organising the Games, and our medicine cat would be helping to take corpses of felines from the Fatal Forest, the name most often used to refer to it.

I sat next to my mother, Morningmist. The silver tabby was a sweet elder now, but still grief struck. Her kit, my brother, had been killed in not the last Games, but the ones before. Morningmist woke from nightmares frequently, reliving the time when Dewpaw's corpse had been placed at her paws when he was dragged from the Fatal Forest. We both harbour a secret grudge against PineClan; it was one of their elders, Blacktail, who had murdered Dewpaw when she found him hiding in a rabbit burrow. Blacktail had starved later on in those particular Games.

"Cats of AshClan, we will be travelling to the Picking clearing very soon. Prepare your goodbyes…And may StarClan guide your paws." Rainstar stated, before leaping from branch to branch until his paws were safely on the earth.

He will stay safe for now. He was the conquerer of the thirteenth Power Games. Thus, his leadership of AshClan will remain until AshClan has a different conquerer. Then that she-cat or tom will become the leader, and the former leader will be murdered by the current ThunderClan leader.

Why do they do this? Well, some argue that ThunderClan are a bunch of crazy felines who need to be killed…However, the true reason is that ThunderClan is telling us this:

_No cat will ever be safe._

Which is why our Clan is travelling to the Picking clearing right now.


	3. Goldenblossom and Snowfall

**Author's Note – Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed! It was greatly appreciated, and so I will answer them here. :3**

**Cinderstar377 –** Yeah, that's right! Time they start showing their more sadistic sides, huh? :D

**icetalon15 –** Thank you! And here's chapter three...At last. XD

**Pebblepaw10 –** Thank you!

**Walking in Little Circles –** Thanks! Yes, that's true but I had forgotten about Jay's Wing. I just used Jaywing as a name because she is a grey cat. Yes, ThunderClan always seemed high and mighty to me. XD Yep, it is fairly annoying to see ShadowClan portrayed as the 'big evil cats' after a while. :P

**Cinderstar377 –** Blacktail was a she-cat who killed Jaywing's brother in one of the Games. Blacktail then starved later on in those Games. Perhaps you got Morningmist and Blacktail mixed up? :3

**Silverleaf –** Thanks! Yep, here's the very late chapter three!

**Rabbitdash of Dusk Clan –** Thank you. :D Yes, I see what you mean; I personally thought it would be better for the cats to just pluck a few jay feathers off a bird rather than waste the wings. It may have been counted as wasting prey!

**Cryptological Mystic –** Here it is!

**Missy Fowl –** Thanks. :3 Yes, they seem that way in the series', so why not twist it a little? :D

**Waffletail –** Here it is! :3

I sit down on a patch of the damp grass, wrapping my tail around my front paws. The air smells of rain with a tinge of pollen from the flowers, and I sneeze. Clearly the showers of rain from last night have left their mark, and although I despised the coldness of that weather, I appreciated the sun warming my fur.

A small, fluffy paw batted at my back, and I resisted the urge to hiss. Turning my head, I fixed my gaze on Tinykit, the most annoying kitten I have ever had the displeasure to meet.

"Hey, Jaywing!" Tinykit exclaimed. "When is it gonna start?"

"The ThunderClanner Pickers are generally late. Probably smearing their fur with tree sap or tansy or something like that." I answered, rolling my eyes.

Tinykit nodded, and, miraculously, became silent. My ears twitched as I heard the sound of light paw-steps climb up the path to sit on the boulder behind the Picking ditch. Oh, dear StarClan, here we go.

The she-cat sitting up there had a circle of moss entwined with bright flowers sat upon her golden tabby head. No doubt she had threatened the medicine cat a few times for the other feline to perform the tedious chore of nosing flowers in and out the moss and fixing it on her head. She was called Goldenblossom, Thistlestar's exceedingly irritating mate. The she-cat was accompanied by two guards; Iceclaw and Lionslash, who sat down, one on each side of the boulder.

"Hello, mouse-brains of AshClan!" Goldenblossom started; did I mention she has the kind of high-pitched, squeaky voice that makes you want to kill something? "We are gathered here today to Pick one she-cat and one tom from your failing of a Clan! The Picking ditch is in front of me, and as you know, we insert a certain number of items that will signify your name! Do you understand, freaks of nature?"

There was a general mumble of 'yes' that echoed around the clearing. Yet one cat suddenly stood up; a scrawny white tom with wild amber eyes.

"No..." I whispered to myself, but I did not move.

The simple fact is that I am a coward. Too cowardly to stop what is almost definitely going to happen.

You see, Snowfall is, for the lack of a kinder way to put it, fairly mad. He's always getting into scrapes at our camp, but despite this, all of us love him dearly. He is the mad, but friendly and funny cat, always up for a talk or a play with the kits.

He also despises ThunderClan with a burning passion, and he voices his opinion whenever he feels like it.

"I don't agree!" Snowfall yelled. "You can't make any of us go into that Forest! Innocent kits get murdered, nursing queens or ones expecting kits get brutally killed, and it isn't as if anyone goes easy on any of the apprentices, warriors or elders! What is wrong with your Clan? You thirst for blood, yet call yourselves noble, and fair! You are worse than the twolegs we hear about! This is what I think of you and your sadistic Clanmates!"

After finishing that, Snowfall ripped up a clump of grass on the ground, shredding it into minuscule pieces which got blown away by the wind.

My throat dry, heart pounding, I watched in horror at what came next.


End file.
